CHESTNUT HILL - We're already 1/3 of the way through the spring season.
BC held a crisp, efficient two-hour session on Thursday morning, the fifth of 15 between now and April 10th. Saturday might be our first little taste of scrimmage action, as O'Brien said in his opening press conference that those days would be used for those types of situations.
I'll try to keep it a little shorter today...
-Saw Jerry York in the house. He chatted with BC PR and Berj Najerian for a while before walking a bit closer to the action down the far end late in session. Very pleasant, wish I could have covered him during the glory days, one of those sports figures locally guys can always say 'I covered him' and have it mean something. Couple reps from Springfield College on hand too. Handful of recruits.
-Lengthy 1-on-1 session early with some good stuff between the WR's and DB's...
-Reed Harris beats his man quickly over the middle, as does Lewis Bond on back-to-back throws from Grayson James.
-Jaedn Skeete beats Isaiah Farris on a quick little in route, bullet by James
-Luke McLaughlin makes a sick grab on the right sideline on a bit of a back shoulder ball from Lonergan, toe-tapping to stay in while reaching back across his body
-Deep dime down the right sideline by Lonergan to redshirt junior VJ Wilkins over Ashton McShane
-Crisp little in-and-out route for freshman Nedrick Boldin Jr. results in a catch in front of the DB (missed which number) on a ball from freshman Shaker Reisig.
-Redshirt freshman Cedric Lott Jr. beats Omar Thornton over the middle (ball from Shaker I believe)
-Freshman Dawson Pough outmuscles Charlie Comella for a ball short over the middle from James
-Freshman Duke Bennan beats redshirt freshman James Magerko quickly over the middle for a catch (from James)
-Harris beats KP Price over the middle (from Reisig)
-Boldin Jr. beats freshman TJ Green inside (from James)
-Highlight reel catch from Skeete, going up to get a ball from James against Max Tucker.
-McShane breaks up a pass on the sideline against Wilkins
-Sophomore Syair Torrence gets a PBU on a short throw against Bond
-Sideline PBU for Vaughn Pemberton (more on this kid later...)
-Back shoulder grab for McLaughlin against freshman Ashton Cunningham (ball by James)
Really good, competitive session for everyone involved.
-Team period coming out from the 25...
-James: deep out to Harris (really good day for him overall, can really be a playmaker for this team even more so in Year 2), combined run stuff for the D, McDonald runs hard, lowering his shoulder to end the run. Arguably the most intense practice yet.
-Lonergan: incomplete deep to Skeete (great ball after moving up in the pocket and throwing on the run downfield, dropped), hard run for Broome, Kolenge sniffs out an outside run, sack (I think for sophomore DL Favor Bate from Merrimack).
-Reisig: short run for Datrell Jones, incompletion on a roll out, Pemberton in on a run stuff (once again getting run at LB), Pemberton PBU on the sidelines, drawing a huge cheer from the defensive sideline. This is quickly becoming quite a story and could change the outlook of the LB room.
-James: short run for Turbo Richard, pass up the seam to Ty Lockwood, incompletion
-Reset and another team period after some indy and special teams work, once again coming out of their own end...
-Lonergan: McShane PBU deep vs. Harris, run for Turbo, swing to McDonald, scramble for a good chunk of yards. Lonergan really maneuvered the pocket well all practice long.
James: short run for Broome, dump off Broome, Wilkins short, incompletion on a dump off/swing outside.
-Reisig: deep out to Boldin Jr., run for Datrell Jones (X2)
-Lonergan: Run McDonald, step up in the pocket and a dart down field for Lewis Bond, out to McLaughlin, Isaiah Farris PBU on a crosser
-Worth noting before I forget that while the veterans I've mentioned are still the most likely O-line, if anyone were to go down, you're probably looking at redshirt junior Jack Funke, redshirt freshman Pap Sye, freshman Robert Smith IV, redshirt sophomore Ryan Mickow, redshirt freshman Jordan Lafontant and redshirt sophomore Michael Crounse as guys that will get opportunities to fill spots. It's still very early, but they're names to watch behind some grouping of Logan Taylor, Jude Bowry, Dwayne Allick, Eryx Daughtrey and Kevin Cline.
-Eagles wrapped up with some goal line work and then some sprints just before 11:15. Saturday at 10:15 should be a good one, but this one was surprisingly physical and intense (yet productive) for Day 5.
